LABOR DAY WEEKEND 2013 CLOSURE/OPENING

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Will Close 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28 and Will Reopen with the New East Span 5 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3

Overview

This Labor Day weekend, the Bay Bridge will be closed to take the original East Span out of service and to open the new East Span to traffic. Work will be done at the east (Oakland Touchdown) and west (Yerba Buena Island Transition Structure) ends of the new bridge to connect it to the existing Toll Plaza and Yerba Buena Island, respectively. Crews will also perform essential construction activities, including paving, striping and erecting barrier rail. Throughout the closure, maintenance will work on the West Span, replacing lighting fixtures, cleaning and painting the cable, and repairing finger joints.

While the Bay Bridge was closed during Labor Day weekends in 2006, 2007 and 2009, essential construction work was successfully completed on schedule. Taking advantage of historically light traffic on the bridge during the holiday weekend helps minimize disruptions to motorists, residents and businesses. Experience gained from previous closures will help us perform this construction safely again this year.

This closure marks the final step before the new bridge opens to traffic. Since 1936, the original East Span has facilitated the movement of people and goods throughout the Bay Area. The 7.1-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 significantly damaged the region’s transportation structures and exposed the vulnerability of the existing East Span. Since that day, the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee has worked diligently to replace the original bridge and move everyone onto a safer structure. Following the safe rerouting of traffic to the new East Span, the original East Span will be demolished; that process will take approximately three years.

Transportation/Transit

Residents and visitors will have numerous alternatives for getting around the Bay Area while the entire Bay Bridge is closed during Labor Day weekend.

Motorists should allow extra time for travel and use of other bridges, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge and the Dumbarton Bridge.

Vehicle access to Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island for residents, employees and visitors will be maintained via special permit from San Francisco.

For more information about transportation and transit planning, see the sidebar to the right.

New Driving Experience

When the bridge reopens to traffic on Tuesday, Sept. 3, motorists will encounter a new driving experience, as traffic moves from the upper and lower decks of the original bridge to the parallel, side-by-side decks of the new East Span. The new side-by-side configuration will open up panoramic views of the San Francisco bay and the East Bay hills. From driving beneath a canopy of white suspender ropes to the wider road-decks with shoulders on either side, a drive across the new East Span is nothing like it used to be. Motorists are urged to drive safely and keep their eyes on the road, and let their passengers enjoy the much more picturesque ride.

Bike/Pedestrian Path

For the first time pedestrians and cyclists will have the chance to travel across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s East Span, on a 15.5- foot-wide bike/pedestrian path that will extend the 2.2 miles to Yerba Buena Island.

Before the pathway can fully connect to Yerba Buena Island, crews will need to demolish a portion of the existing bridge that sits in the way of the new bike and pedestrian path. Contractors must dismantle portions of the original bridge, including the S-Curve detour that was put into place in 2009, in order to install the rest of the path and connect it to Yerba Buena Island, as well as replace the temporary path at Oakland Touchdown. The bike path is expected to be complete by summer 2015. Information about pathway access will be available prior to bridge opening.

Bike/Pedestrian Fact Sheet – Coming Soon

Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island Residents and Businesses

Vehicle access to Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island for residents, employees and visitors will be maintained via special permit from San Francisco.

Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island residents, employees, and special event attendees will be granted access at all times to and from San Francisco by special permit. Access passes will be distributed through the Treasure Island Development Authority. Access passes must be visible through the windshield at all times. Refer to your access plan booklet for specifics about routes and checkpoints.

Guests visiting YBI or TI must be escorted by a resident with an access pass.